Man Utd fan stabbed in Rome attack

A Manchester United fan has been stabbed and four others have been arrested by Italian police as thousands headed to Rome for the Champions League final.

Greg Wheldon, 34, suffered a knife wound to his left leg after being set upon as he walked to his hotel near the Vatican in the early hours of this morning.

A Manchester United fan sits in front of the Fontana de Trevi in central Rome

Hotel staff rushed out and pulled him and his friends to safety while his attackers ran off.

Mr Wheldon was treated at the nearby Santo Spirito hospital and then released, a spokesman said his injuries were not serious.

Although it is not known who his attackers were the style is similar to the buttocks or upper thigh slashing which is a trademark of Roma’s notorious Ultras. The injury is painful and uncomfortable but not life threatening.

Police also said that Peter Leech, 45, and his son Jordan, 19, were arrested after resisting arrest in the Campo di Fiori square in the centre of Rome last night.

They were taken to the city’s Regina Coeili jail and were due to appear before magistrates in Rome later today in a fast track hearing.

Two other Britons who were not named were also held after they tried to pay for a slap up meal costing 300 Euro in Rome’s swanky Cafe de Paris on Via Veneto with fake banknotes.